‘One of Them Days’ Gives Many Nods to ‘Friday’ — A Look at All of the Films’ Similarities

Spoiler Alert: This article contains light spoilers for One of Them Days.

While the phrase "Black Girl Magic" has become a bit oversaturated, in my opinion, when it applies, it applies! In January 2025, millions of theaters were packed with Black Girl Magic when One of Them Days, starring Keke Palmer and SZA, debuted everywhere on Jan. 17.

Produced by Issa Rae and written by producer Syreeta Singleton, One of Them Days is the first buddy comedy starring two Black women since B.A.P.S., and while a 28-year gap between Black women comedies is astounding, it's also a conversation for another day.

For now, let's bask in the brilliance of One of Them Days and how it pays homage to the feel-good '90s Black classics we know and love. Insecure fans were also in their feels as we watched another Issa Rae-produced dynamic duo on the big screen. However, one of the standout callbacks from the film is its connection to another comedy following one unruly day: Friday, starring Ice Cube and Chris Tucker.

Here are the similarities between One of Them Days and Friday — plus a bonus callback to another cultural fave.

It's important to note that Syreeta herself has said One of Them Days is loosely based on some of the shenanigans she's had with her friends. However, the film has many similarities to Friday, starting with its leading ladies. The film follows Keke and SZA's characters, Dreux and Alyssa, who are two best friends struggling to make ends meet in LA. Similarly, Friday's main characters, Craig (Ice Cube) and Smokey (Chris Tucker), are the movie's central focus.

In One of Them Days, Dreux is the straight-laced, determined one in the friendship, spending most of the film prepping for a promotion that would improve her life and pockets. However, Dreux's interview prep is interrupted by her best friend, Alyssa, a carefree artist, who gave her hobosexual boyfriend (played by Joshua David Neal) their rent money. As the movie continues, it's abundantly clear that Alyssa is the Smokey in the group and, despite her love for her friend, sabotages them throughout the film.

Every buddy comedy needs a bully, and One of Them Days provided one in an all too relatable way. During the film, SZA's character discovers her boyfriend, Keshawn (yep, the one who stole her rent money), has been cheating on her with "Big Booty Berniece" (Aziza Scott).

Berniece not only has a bigger booty than Alyssa (allegedly), but she's also a bully who's always looking for a fight. The character instantly reminded many viewers of Friday's Deebo, played by the late Tommy "Tiny" Lester.

Like Deebo from Friday, One of Them Days has a darker undertone expressed through comedy. In the first Friday film, Craig and Smokey have less than 24 hours to retrieve money Smokey borrowed from a local drug dealer, Big Worm (Faizon Love). Big Worm threatened to kill him and Craig due to Craig smoking some of his weed. The looming death haunts the friends while they hilariously ask anyone they could think of for the money.

In One of Them Days, Dreux and Alyssa endure a "Big Worm" situation after they are accidentally sold to a gangster named King Lolo (Amin Joseph). King Lolo told Dreux and Alyssa that if they didn't have the $5,000 they spent (a fraction of the $200 Craig and Smokey owed), he would kill them by the end of the night. However, (SPOILER ALERT), like Big Worm, King Lolo doesn't succeed in killing them. While we don't know what happened to Big Worm, King Lolo was taken into custody for unpaid payday loans.

LA serves as a stunning backdrop in Friday and One of Them Days. One of Them Days followed in its predecessor's proverbial footsteps by showing LA's hood in the 2020s. However, unlike Friday, gentrification plays a significant role in One of Them Days' plot.

It was only right that One of Them Days, filmed in the summer of 2024, had the year's "oracle," Katt Williams, involved. In the movie, Katt plays Lucky, an unhoused man who we first meet as he begs Dreux and Alyssa not to take out a payday loan outside of the processing center. He later appears in other scenes and becomes the girls' unofficial fairy godbrother.

Katt's appearance in One of Them Days felt like a subtle nod to the Friday franchise as he played a pimp, Money Mike, in Friday After Next. In January 2024, he added more fuel to his beef with Rickey Smiley when he claimed he was initially supposed to play the character.

Like the Friday franchise, we need to see more of One of Them Days through the sequel treatment!